Coinbase and other crypto firms have joined a legal battle in the Southern District of New York to defend the CFTC's push to authorize single-stock perpetual futures against a challenge from traditional securities firms.
Coinbase joined a court brief filed late Monday supporting the CFTC's move to allow single-stock perpetual futures, a product expansion Coinbase and firms like Kalshi are explicitly aiming for. A favorable ruling would open a new U.S. derivatives market for the exchange. The judge, however, has already signalled sympathy to the challenge from the Capital Markets Alliance, so the outcome remains uncertain.
CME Group is waging its own court case against the CFTC's earlier opening of crypto perps on similar grounds, so a ruling on whether perpetual futures are swaps or securities futures could shape its fight. The article reports the legal clash but no new development specific to CME's case, and no figures, so the immediate price effect is limited.
Coinbase, Kraken, and Kalshi filed a court brief late Monday supporting the CFTC's authority to regulate single-stock perpetual futures. The firms argue these products are security futures rather than swaps, countering a lawsuit from the Capital Markets Alliance that seeks an emergency halt to the trading of these contracts.
Coinbase is among the firms aiming to offer single-stock perpetual futures in the U.S.; the case decides whether the CFTC can allow them or whether they fall under the SEC as securities-based swaps.
No. The judge initially let trading continue but signalled she saw merit in the argument that the CFTC overstepped its authority, so the litigation is unresolved.
CME Group has been pursuing a court case against the CFTC's move to allow crypto perpetual futures, arguing those products should be labeled as swaps rather than futures.